You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

Labor Day Weekend Brain Drippings – Angels Baseball and Otherwise

From a baseball standpoint, Saturday and Sunday were as heartening as Friday was disappointing. Outside of baseball, the whole weekend rocked. I didn’t bring a single project home from work this weekend. Go team, me! Okay, I work from home for half the week so, technically, I didn’t bring a single project out of my computer bag for the weekend, but you get the general idea.

Jered Weaver, fresh off the plane from his grandfather’s funeral in Oregon (My sincere condolences on your loss. Losing a grandparent is extremely difficult and the bruise on your heart may fade, but never leaves.) worked his heart out on the mound for five innings on Saturday but his control was, understandably, far from his usual precision. It was a thing of beauty to see the rest of the team, offense, defense and bullpen alike, pick him up and get Jered the win. It was an ugly win to be sure, but the guy’s had so many pretty losses that he more than deserved this.

Food Truck Wars alumni Nom Nom Truck, Grill ‘Em All and the Grilled Cheese Truck too? Believe the hype, they really are worth spending 45 minutes in line. They fact that in doing so we also contributed to a fundraiser for the local high school band? Pretty cool way to kill a Saturday afternoon.

Joel Pineiro looked amazingly like…well…Joel Pineiro on Sunday and I cannot tell you how gratifying it was to see that. My hat’s off to him for working his way through his troubles with such a good attitude and I hope this is a sign that his rough times are over.

Holy Angels offense, Batman! Torii and Aybar and Trumbombs. Oh. My! Not to mention hard, clutch knocks from Bourjos, Callaspo, Conger and Wells! Keep it up, gentlemen. This is how we win ballgames.

With 25 homeruns to his name, Mark Trumbo is getting closer to matching and perhaps surpassing Tim Salmon’s franchise rookie homerun record of 31 from 1993. Whether or not he gets there, that’s pretty darned slick. Go Trumbo!

As distasteful as it was, I actually rooted for the Red Sox this weekend…which is probably why they lost. Stinky Red Sox. Hmmm. Do you think they know that my love was merely a matter of temporary convenience? *nods* It’s the only rational explanation. ;)

While my husband tends to see the Aybar as half Gilligan (serious props to True Grich for the all too often spot-on nickname), I tend to see the Aybar as half highlight reel. But there’s no denying he could go either way in a given game. Flip a coin.

Midnight Vineyards Malbec is an excellent tater tots wine…yeah, I cracked up typing that too, hear me out. Inspired by our food truck adventures, we made gourmet burgers on Sunday, topped with blue cheese, mounds of sautéed mushrooms and a veritable tossed salad of baby greens, red onions and balsamic vinaigrette. We paired it with tater tots accompanied by curry ketchup and siricha ketchup dipping sauces. So this was a wine worthy meal…that also happened to prove the truth of the initial statement.

I’m going to the game on Monday! It’s the perfect way to cap off the last weekend of summer. And I wound up getting field box seats so cheaply, I’m almost embarrassed. Thanks guys, but this better just be just a holiday weekend vacation thing, because although my last post is still true and this will take work and luck, we’re still in this!

Thanks, Jeff. Haren’s on the mound and it should be a fun game. As for the tots, *bows* if I am ever too old for tater tots, then I am just too old…and siricha is the bomb with pretty much anything. :)

Well, at the very least its caught on in my house, True Grich, with my husband in particular, though I appreciate your nicknaming genius as well. We have determined that if Aybar is Gilligan than Callaspo is the Skipper – frequent chastiser of Gilligan but just as often equally inept – and Mathis, at bat at least, is MaryAnn.

Ugh! This evening’s game! I kind of expected to drop one to the Mariners and if we dropped one, I figured it would be against King Felix…but I did not expect that many errors. We’re still in this. I knew there would be some back and forth with the standings this month, but ugh!

Last long weekend of summer….isn’t it summer 24/7 365 days a year in California? :P
As for Weaver, pitching when his mind is elsewhere and still picking up the win is just another point in his favour for voters of this year’s Cy Young. Looks like it’s going to come down to between him and Verlander.

Bluejaysnest – well…kind of…I mean in between the wild fire and silly California houses washing down the hills in Malibu seasons, I suppose it is. :) I think this definitely demonstrates the calibur of pitcher Weaver is and I would love it if he won the Cy Young, but I think this is Verlander’s year. He’s just been solid and amazing from start to finish and as much as I still bristle over the bush league comments every time I see his smirking, weaseley face – no, no passion here, lol! – I woulld never argue with the dominance he has shown on the mound this season.

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